


The Battle of the Airport

by HufflepuffHorizon



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Comfort No Hurt, Exasperated Leon, Fluff and Humor, Future Fic, Leon is a Mum Friend, Leon the Long-Suffering, M/M, Merthur - Freeform, Modern Era, Protective Arthur, Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Reincarnation, merthur fluff, present day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27252838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HufflepuffHorizon/pseuds/HufflepuffHorizon
Summary: In the six months since Arthur had risen from Avalon, he had had many strange new experiences... But an airport wasn’t one of them yet.And if his idiot boyfriend thinks that he’s going to just let him waltz into one of those flying death machines, then he is sorely mistaken.(In which Arthur is overprotective, Merlin is very confused and Leon just needs a holiday.)
Relationships: Leon & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Leon & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 238





	The Battle of the Airport

In the six months since Arthur had risen from Avalon, he had had many strange new experiences... But an airport wasn’t one of them yet. As far as he could tell from Leon’s fussing and fretting, it was a source of great stress, even if you weren’t the one doing the travelling.

Still, it seemed like Leon’s concern was completely justified. Merlin had waited until the last minute to book his flight, and probably would have forgotten completely if it hadn’t been for Leon’s nagging. He had thrown a random assortment of his clothes and books and phone chargers into a suitcase ten minutes before they set off, and Leon had sighed and rearranged everything neatly. He had then herded all three of them into his car and spent the whole journey lecturing on how late Merlin would be, only to make him ever later when they arrived by checking and double-checking that Merlin had brought everything he needed, and that he knew his gate number.

“Honestly, Leon! You sound like Gaius,” Merlin had teased, before he’d hugged both of them goodbye and kissed Arthur softly. “I’ll see you both in a week.”

He would miss him, of course, Arthur reflected as he watched Merlin disappear into the bustle of the airport, hauling his obnoxious rainbow-striped suitcase with difficulty. But he and Merlin had been separated for a thousand years before, and this trip was important for his boyfriend. They could handle a week. 

“Airports seem like a nightmare,” Arthur said distractedly to Leon, watching a family of screaming children and their tired parents hurry past. “And what exactly is a plane?”

“Erm,” Leon paused for a second. “They’re sort of... Giant metal machines, sire. Everyone climbs on and they... Fly through the air.”

Arthur blinked slowly. Then he stared at his friend. “Fly through the air?”

“Well... Yes, that’s the general idea.”

Arthur waited a moment for that to start making sense, which it didn’t. This new, 21st century world was more bizarre than he could possibly have imagined. Still, Leon was immortal, just like Merlin, and he had a way of knowing the answers to all Arthur’s questions. He would be able to explain it all.

“How does it... Stay up? Is it magic?”

“Erm... No,” Leon scratched behind his ear. “No, it has an engine. Like I explained to you about cars, remember?” 

Arthur remembered, and he relaxed. “Have you ever been on a plane?” 

“No, and I never want to,” Leon said with a laugh. “I’d be terrified the whole time that it would plummet into the ocean or something and kill everyone onboard.”

Arthur choked. “It would what?”

Leon looked startled, then horrified as he registered Arthur’s sudden panic. “Oh no, please don’t worry, sire! Merlin will be fine! Planes don’t just do that. Well, sometimes. Not often.” 

“Sometimes?” Arthur repeated. “Have people died on a plane before? How many people?”

“No, listen to me, Arthur- it’s fine, I swear, I didn’t mean to say-“

“Leon, how many?” Arthur attempted to use his kingly voice, despite his franticness. 

Leon swallowed. “Well, I don’t know exactly,” he said uncomfortably. “Thousands, definitely. Ten thousand, probably. But there really is nothing to worry about...”

Arthur gaped at him, wild-eyed. Oh gods. Oh  gods . Merlin. Merlin was about to board one of those metal machines and plummet to a watery death. 

“Wait! Sire!” Leon called desperately after him as he began tearing through the airport, but Arthur was deafened by his own drumming heartbeat. Gate 18. He had to get to Gate 18.

His mind was racing as he sprinted up and down escalators, ignoring the people staring or tutting at him or sending him sympathetic glances, probably assuming he was late for a flight. Did Merlin know how dangerous planes were? No, he couldn’t. Not even Merlin would be stupid enough to know that and then merrily skip off onto the death machine anyway. Gods, that clotpole would be the death of him... He had to warn him, he had to stop him-

Arthur skidded to a halt at Gate 18, puffing and panting, and his heart burst with relief when he saw his boyfriend still in the waiting area. He was at the front of the queue, about to show his passport, but he turned around at the commotion. 

“Merlin!” Arthur stumbled towards him, and everyone in the queue complained and grumbled as he made his way to the front. 

Merlin seemed to take in Arthur’s panicked state, because he reached for his hand, looking at him worriedly. “Arthur, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“You... idiot!” Arthur’s voice came out angry, because even after all this time he preferred to be angry instead of scared. “You’re an  _ idiot _ and you are  _ not _ getting on board that monstrosity!” 

Merlin’s anxious, confused gaze bounced from Arthur to Leon as their friend arrived at the scene, looking frazzled. 

“He’s... Very environmentally friendly!” Leon blurted out a flustered explanation to the little crowd of bewildered strangers. “He prefers, uhh, boats!”

Everyone ohhhhed and ahhhed and nodded understandingly. 

“Arthur, what is this about?” Merlin raised an eyebrow at him, still looking slightly apprehensive. 

Arthur wheeled around to glare at the young man who was checking passports at the security gate. “This is despicable,” he growled. “Your dastardly machine is putting these innocent people in terrible danger! As king of Camelot, I command that you put a stop to this now!”

The security guard looked slightly terrified, as though he expected Arthur to jump on board his blasted plane and start hacking it to pieces. Which, rest assured, Arthur would do without hesitation if he had to. 

“This is my first day,” the security guy said weakly. 

Arthur cursed to himself. He kept forgetting that pulling the king card wasn’t particularly effective these days. It mostly earned him strange looks and hesitant questioning of his sanity. Still, he supposed this enemy soldier could be forgiven if it was only his first day. Maybe he didn’t quite understand what he’d signed up for.

“Arthur,” Merlin seemed slightly exasperated. He stepped out of the queue and pulled Arthur and Leon aside. “Stop being a prat and attacking these poor underpaid airport employees and just tell me why you’re so worked up.”

“I’m not worked up!” Arthur’s voice rose in pitch and wavered slightly.

“He’s just a little bit concerned about the safety of the plane,” Leon explained delicately. 

“Leon told me the plane was going to crash into the ocean!” Arthur snapped. “Excuse me for being just a little bit concerned!”

“I did not tell him that,” Leon assured Merlin hurriedly. 

Merlin sighed, but a little smile was curling across his face. He squeezed Arthur’s hand again. “Arthur, listen. I’ve done this before, and it was absolutely fine. Trust me. The chances of anything going wrong with the plane are really small.”

“But there’s still a chance,” Arthur said stubbornly.

Merlin shrugged. “Well, yes, but there’s also a chance that you could die walking into the supermarket to buy milk. And there was a huge chance we could’ve died every time we walked into a battle back in Camelot. How is this any different?”

“Because...” Arthur trailed off.

_ Because in those battles, I was right there with you. I knew I could protect you. I would never have sent you into danger alone. _

Arthur couldn’t protect Merlin from anything if he flew away from him on a metal death machine, far away into the sky.

Merlin smiled, as though he could hear Arthur’s thoughts. Then he wiggled his fingers, grinning. 

“Besides, if something did happen to the plane, I’m sure it would be nothing a little magic couldn’t fix.” 

“Oh,” Arthur said, feeling stupid. “Oh yeah.”

Merlin chuckled and cupped Arthur’s face in his hands, his thumb skating gently across his cheek. Arthur curled his fingers around Merlin’s wrists and let his eyes flutter closed as their lips met.

Leon cleared his throat awkwardly and gazed intently at a poster on the wall advertising a holiday resort in Majorca. 

“Still,” Arthur mumbled as Merlin pulled away. “If you die on this stupid plane, I’ll kill you. Really, I will.” 

Merlin laughed. “I love you too, dollop head.” 

Arthur rolled his eyes and pulled him into one last hug. “Yeah, yeah, I love you. Can’t imagine why.” 

Merlin shook his head, gave Leon another quick hug too and then finally disappeared through Gate 18 with one last wave over his shoulder. 

“I hadn’t forgotten about the magic,” Arthur told Leon adamantly. “I was just checking it was safe for all the other passengers. Of course. Making sure our idiot knew a spell powerful enough to protect everyone on the plane.”

Leon shot another long-suffering glance at the Majorca poster, as though he was seriously considering booking the next flight. 

And here he thought he’d finally get some peace while Merlin was away. 


End file.
